


Fractured Family Bonds

by writingramblr



Category: Magic City
Genre: F/M, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Incest, Introspection, Post-Season/Series 02, Resolved Sexual Tension, Sexual Content, Speculation, Step-Mother/Step-Son Liaison, stevie/vera trash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:02:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4664145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingramblr/pseuds/writingramblr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's always been a lingering sort of want. Just shy of obsession and toeing the line of a crush.<br/>Lily was a very good distraction, but she wasn't real.<br/>Wasn't worth it in the end.</p><p>He just wanted what he couldn't have.<br/>Until he could.</p><p> </p><p>[the post finale story i wanted but couldn't find so i wrote it myself]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fractured Family Bonds

**Author's Note:**

> where is the fic for this show? I mean damn. It's so good, and has so many pretty people, I don't understand it. And now there might be a movie to really wrap it up?  
> hell yes.
> 
> so there's this bit of trash i wrote cause i shipped these two from episode one cause i'm a horrible piece of trash.  
> i'm not a bit sorry, but i am slightly annoyed i had to see danny houston's junk twice, but never once saw JDM's or Steven strait nearly that naked.  
> but ah well.  
> if there's any other shippers out there, then hi.  
> apparently this is a non existent fandom.

Waking up alone isn't how it _starts._

 

It's how it _ends._

 

It's how Vera knows she needs to be thinking about finding somewhere else to stay. Hopefully not forever, but at least until Ike comes to his senses about Meg and what’s she’s really up to.

 

*

 

Ike finally pulls up to the Miramar with Meg's kiss burned onto his lips and he's almost afraid it's glowing like a beacon that Vera will see a mile away and know he betrayed her, but instead there’s a distraction in the form of Danny.

 

He’s yelling and crying and he's saying that he’s leaving, and Ike has lost another son to the wind, from the cruel fact that he loves them too much.

 

Ike gets upstairs and finds the bedroom empty. The bed is still made.

 

His heart sinks.

 

She's left.

 

For the night or for good he doesn't know yet.

 

Walking on the beach helps him think a little and the sun's come up before he knows it.

 

He prays she'll be in the cafe or Atlantis as he walks back up the warming sand.

 

*

 

 

*

 

*

 

Golden gleaming skin. Miles of it.

 

Stevie had wanted to hate the woman who thought she could replace his mom.

 

He already hated his dad a little for her.

 

She was so young.

 

Young and beautiful so naturally his dad had been a little stupid.

 

But when he saw her...oh how he understood.

 

Damned near lost his breath at the sight of so much perfect skin.

 

Oh well then. She would be easy to love.

 

Mother.

 

The word froze in his throat, soured on his tongue and he still couldn't look away.

 

This would be how he would die.

 

From shame of wanting the one girl he could never have.

 

That's how it had always been.

 

That was the way of it.

 

*

 

*

 

*

 

"I've done something terrible Ike. Unforgivable."

 

She says.

 

Sitting in Atlantis, just as he’d hoped.

 

Vera’s hands shake as she puts the cigarette to her lips, and the smoke streams back out quickly as she exhales.

 

Her dark eyes shine up at him with something he sees as fear and he knows his own reflects back.

 

'So have I,'

 

He thinks.

 

But despite her words he manages a smile.

 

"Nonsense."

 

She licks her lips and they aren't their usual perfect red, they look a little swollen if he's not mistaken, like she's been hit...or something else entirely.

 

"No I really mean it."

 

'Me too.'

 

His heartbeat echoes and he lights a cigarette, and nods for her to continue.

“Whatever it is Vee, we can work it out.”

 

Her dark curls aren’t perfectly set and they shift, not in place with hairspray, when she denies his words.

 

“I don’t think so Ike.”

 

*

 

Stevie wasn't sure the _exact moment_ he realized he felt glad Lily was a fraud, because it meant he still loved Vera.

 

He'd never loved Lily at all.

 

She'd merely been a placeholder of guilt.

 

One wrong love for another.

 

At least her he could hold and touch and kiss and _fuck_ like he wanted to.

 

He was dying for some of Vera's love.

 

Oh sure he'd brought her a drink.

 

Let her talk.

 

He'd kissed her cheek and said the same words he knew his father told her often enough.

 

_'It'll be all right.'_

 

Then he'd gone and run out. Been kicked out.

 

 

He didn't even tell her goodbye.

 

But then, miracle of miracles, she had come to see him.

 

Only to ask him back.

 

He wasn't a fool.

 

He was in too deep he knew it.

 

What was one more sin?

 

He slammed the door closed and she was trapped in his arms reach for just a moment, and he could taste her breath, smell her perfume and feel her warmth.

 

But it was a ghost of a moment.

 

"They always come back."

 

He sneers at her and prays she will prove him wrong while begging her not to go.

 

She leaves with a sad shake of her head.

 

*

 

The lights flash on his window and he thinks the worst. The gun is in his hand and he's prepared for whatever after nearly killing Ben Diamond hours before, until he recognizes her car.

 

At this hour?

 

To think he never thought she would come.

 

After all these months, living the lie and pretending it didn’t matter.

 

Heat is heavy in the room and he knows the A/C should kick in any second.

 

He looks down at the car and somehow locks eyes with her.

 

She's here at this retched hour.

 

He can only wonder why.

 

But he knows, deep down.

 

She breaks the stare and begins to climb out and he goes to pour them a drink.

 

Why not pretend it's just another social visit?

 

The gun gets tucked away.

 

Stevie lights a cigarette but his hands shake so bad he nearly drops it.

 

Can this be happening?

 

In the past week things have gone from nightmarish to out of his favorite visited fantasy very quickly and he's not sure he likes it.

 

A soft knock on the door pulls him back to the very real present.

 

Taking a deep drag he moves to open it and she walks in like a cool breeze drifts through a window.

 

His eyes are drawn to her curves and her face and the sadness like a cresting wave in her eyes.

 

She's so goddamned beautiful it should be a crime.

 

"I told you."

 

He just can't help himself.

 

Vera nods.

 

"You did."

 

The delicate accent lilts her voice and it's always been like music to his ears.

 

He hands her the drink and she doesn't bother asking if the glass is clean.

 

It doesn't matter.

 

They're both beyond that.

 

“He hasn’t come home.”

Stevie nods. He knows she means his father.

So he’s still with Aunt Meg.

“Well mi casa es su casa.”

He gives her a grin and it’s easy, easy to give her part of his heart and soul.

Though it’s just a dinky little apartment for one, she seems to be comfortable.

“Did I wake you?”

She’s ever so thoughtful.

It makes him think back to the last time he spoke to his father still at the Miramar.

She’d been there.

In the shower.

Back turned to him, just like when he’d walked up to see her in the sun.

He shakes his head,

“I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if I had to. So much has happened.”

Vera looks thoughtful as she takes a sip of her drink and he pulls a drag on the cigarette.

“The vote didn’t pass.” She finally says.

“More than that.”

She cocks a perfectly sculpted brow at him and there’s a hint of a smile,

“Oh?”

He coughs, choking on air, instead of smoke,

“I probably shouldn’t say until the papers come out tomorrow, and I’m sure they will.”

Vera repeats her question, and now her lips are forming a perfect ‘o’ and the glass is catching the blue gleam of the neon, she looks like an angel as she simultaneously is tempting him like the devil.

“But I don’t want to brag. Tell me about your day.”

He gives her another easy grin and she rolls her eyes at him, her lips closing as she takes another sip.

The burn of the nicotine on the back of his throat reminds him that he’s thirsty, but not just for water.

“I don’t want to talk about it. You don’t have to pretend to make conversation for me.”

She downs the rest of the drink in a heartbeat and then she’s standing up, and walking towards him.

He’s like a butterfly pinned to a wall, frozen, unable to think, and not willing to move, not wanting to scare her off.

He moves the cigarette away from his body, reaching blindly for the ashtray, but instead of finding it, her fingers close around his hand and pluck it away.

She brings it to her lips, and gently takes a drag.

He gulps down a breath of air, and there’s not enough space between them.

He wants this.

But he’s suddenly wondering if it’s the best idea.

She left lipstick on his cigarette, and she’s set it aside for him.

Unintentional mothering and that’s a slap in the face like nothing else.

“Stevie…”

She whispers his name like a prayer and his eyes snap back from her delicate wrist and lithe fingers and he’s watching her dark eyes.

“Vera…”

He answers the prayer.

She’s practically on top of him now, prepared to sink down and sit on his lap and he’s not about to fight her off.

He’s half hard already and she’s barely touched him other than innocently.

Her arms wind around his shoulders and then she’s there.

In his arms.

All his.

Her breathing has slowed, and his has quickened, along with his pulse.

“Do you want me?”

His eyes fall shut, and his heartbeat pounds in his ears like crashing waves on the shore.

“Yes.”

Damn the morals and the reasons why not to.

He wants her so bad.

She kisses him, softly, sweetly, and he groans at the contact, opening his mouth to her and letting her lead.

His hands find her waist automatically as if to steady her, but he’s really feeling for the seam of her skirt and the realization she’s not got on any underwear makes his heart skip a beat.

She did that on purpose.

There’s a fire building inside him and she’s the only thing near enough to quench it.

Lucky thing the bed isn’t far.

His hands creep up under the fabric of her shirt, pulling it up and off in a swift movement, breaking the kiss just for that.

Her hand grips his neck, pulling lightly at the hairs on the back of his neck, and she’s kissing him fiercely again.

How many years in the making?

Not long.

“Oh god Stevie.”

She gasps as he moves to kiss along her jaw and down her neck, all that luscious exposed skin practically calling out for him.

Wandering hands continue to get rid of her clothing and his.

She brushes her hand over his crotch and he jumps a little.

He’s fully hard now and aching for her touch.

The best surprise is when he reaches under her skirt and finds her almost dripping wet.

It’s not all in his head.

She wants this too.

He doesn’t say a word, but he manages to stand and maneuver them back to the bed.

Upon a semi soft mattress he feels a little better about her perched atop him.

The chair had been a little uncomfortable.

Now she’s cupping him through his trousers and he’s not a kid anymore but he’s going to embarrass himself if she doesn’t stop.

“Wait. Let me see you.”

She looks down at herself and his hands on her hips and she might be blushing but the light is horrid.

He unsnaps her bra with practiced hands and they’re barely a handful but they’re enough.

Her nipples are pebbled and he wants to taste them.

Her wordless cry and the way her head falls forward into the pillow makes his heart clench.

Forget sex, he just wants to relish every moment of her being there.

Beyond the craving he’s had for her, he finally can just touch every inch of her.

Christmas has nothing on this.

He flips her onto her back and now he’s looming over her, and he can watch her face as he begins to kiss down her stomach and presses a hand onto her hip to hold her still as he tugs off and away the skirt masquerading as her armor.

She tastes exquisite and like he imagined forbidden fruit must.

Her thighs are squeezing his head and she’s gasping nonsense mingled with his name.

He shouldn’t smirk but he does.

When she’s done and come twice, he surfaces for air and presses a chaste kiss to the inside of her thigh and looks up at her, watching as she catches her breath.

“Oh my god.”

“God’s not here.”

She smiles a kind of sad smile and bites her lip.

“I want to feel you inside me.”

The cocky grin is automatic.

“I just was.”

She rolls her eyes and he’s already reaching for the bedside drawer, palming a condom to slide on, when her hand on his arm makes him stop.

“I can’t get pregnant. So if you prefer…don’t bother.”

He swallows thickly and blinks down at her.

That’s a deep dark secret right there.

Maybe in the past he would have tried to use it against her.

For fun.

To help ease the ache, the want.

No need anymore.

“Okay.”

He leans back and kicks off his pants and boxers, and then returns to her naked.

He doesn’t miss the way her eyes drink him in.

She’d gotten his shirt nearly undone and off and away but then he’d taken over.

She licks her lips and he wants to kiss her again.

As much as he would love her to have some fun with him before the actual event he knows as well as she that this is all borrowed time.

“Ready?”

She nods, and he takes her hand, lacing their fingers together and he leans in to kiss her slowly and deep, just as he presses inside her.

She’s so wet and warm from coming before it’s almost too easy.

But she feels really tight.

Somehow she’s still nervous or something and he’s lost in bliss and doesn’t bother caring about that.

He breaks the kiss as he begins to move, and her mouth falls open in that perfect ‘o’ as he brushes just the right spot.

First time lucky.

It doesn’t take long enough to bring her into another climax, before he’s following right after.

He tries to make it last as long as he can, and it’s painful with how good it is.

The bed isn’t big enough for him to pull out of her and fall beside her, so he just leans on his elbows and stays within her as long as she’ll let him.

Common sense dictates he’ll need to move in a few minutes, but while he can, he rests his forehead in the cleft between her neck and shoulders, and breathes in her spicy perfume.

“Stevie…”

He hums in reply and he thinks she smiles.

“I need to go. I’m sorry but I can’t stay.”

Of course not.

“I know.”

He hates the way it hurts to say.

He smokes almost an entire cigarette as he watches her dress and prepare to leave him.

“Will you come see me again?”

Vera’s halfway through shaking her head before he finishes the sentence, and then she stops.

“I might. I’d be glad to have lunch with you sometime. We are still family.”

Stevie swallows over the huge lump in his throat and he nods.

Fucked up as they were she was right.

“Okay.”

“Goodnight.”

She doesn’t say goodbye.

The door closes and he feels like punching the drywall.

Instead he goes to the window and watches her drive away.

He still doesn’t sleep the rest of the night.

*

Vera feels a chill in her bones and it’s not like the one after hearing she’d never dance again.

She could ignore that.

It’s the silence in the room while Ike digests her words, her confession.

She can’t wait to hear what he thinks he did wrong.

Maybe he spent the night with Meg.

So what?

That’s a drop in the ocean compared to her sin.

“Still think we’ll get through this?”

His voice is so graveled and she’s not sure if it’s because he probably didn’t sleep a wink, (neither did she) or if the cigars and whiskey’s are finally leaving a permanent mark,

“Vee…I… I don’t know.”

“If you want me to go, I’ll go. Without a fuss. I don’t want your money. I just want to leave.”

There’s something shiny in his eyes, and she’s not sure if the tears are for the loss of her, for what’s she’s done, or for the fact that finally his hotel is the more virtuous choice than her.

She knew he loved it, but now she knows where she stands, or rather, falls, in the spectrum.

“Vee…this isn’t something to rush. I need to think.”

She pulls out a fresh cigarette, and takes a deep pull, before sending the stream of smoke his way,

“It’s pretty simple if you ask me. Why would you want me after I slept with your son?”

His head falls into his hands, and she’s relieved.

She expected some yelling.

Broken glasses.

She wouldn’t have been surprised if he hit her.

He never had, not once, but there was a first time for everything.

*


End file.
